Dust guard well closure



March 25, 1947.

E. ARMSTRONG 2,417,853

DUST GUARD WELL CLOSURE Filed July 10, 1944 Momm /gs Patented Mar. 25, 1947 more s' mr 2 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to the journal boxes of railway rolling stock and, more specifically, to the dust guard wells of said journal boxes.

A practice which is widespread at the present is to close the open upper ends of journal box dust guard wells by driving thereinto substantially wedge-shaped wooden plugs. However, as the temperature of the journal box rises as the axle turns therein, these wooden plugs dry out, shrink, become loose and are therefore easily jolted out of the dust guard well. It is accordingly the primary object of the present invention to provide a journal box dust guard well closure of a unique construction whereby said closure will be caused to remain securely in position under substantially all conditions.

Another very important object of the invention is to provide a closure of the aforementioned character which will effectively seal the open top end of the well in a manner to exclude water, dirt, dust and other foreign matter.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a journal box dust guard Well closure which will be comparatively simple in construction, durable, highly efiicient and reliable in use and which may be manufactured at low cost.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in vertical section through the inner portion of a journal box, showing a closure in accordance with the present invention in position in the upper portion of the dust guard well thereof;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the closure;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of another form of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will be seen that reference character I designates generally a conventional journal box the inner or rear end wall 2 of which is formed to provide a well 3 the top end of which is open. The well 3 accommodates a dust guard 4. The end wall 2 of the journal box I has formed therein a circular opening 5 through which the axle 6 enters. The axle 8 includes the usual enlargement l which the dust guard 4 contacts.

One embodiment of the present invention comprises a closure 8 which is inserted downwardly in the open upper portion of the well 3. The

closure 8 is formed from a strip of suitable clinging, flexible, fibrous and compressible material which is folded longitudinally on itself in a manner to provide a pair of folds or plies 9. At suitably spaced points, the plies 9 are stapled together, as at l0.

It is thought that the manner in which the closure functions will be readily apparent from a consideration of the foregoing. Briefly, the closure 8 is stuffed or forced downwardly in the open upper top portion of the dust guard well 3 to substantially the position illustrated to advantage in Figure 1 of the drawing. As the closure 8 is thus inserted, the material thereof is compressed and in this manner placed under tension. This tension, together with the fibrous, clinging nature of the material, causes the closure to remain firmly in position in the dust guard well and to resist dislodgment fromjolting, vibration, etc.

In the modification illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawing, reference character ll designates generally a closure formed from two strips of material constituting plies l2. At longitudinally spaced points, the plies l2 are stapled together at l3 under compression. By thus compressing the intermediate portions of the plies l2, the free longitudinal edges thereof are caused to spread or bulge outwardly for providing good contacts I with the walls of the well 3.

It is believed that the many advantages of a journal box dust guard well closure constructed in accordance with the present invention will be readily understood and although preferred embodiments are as illustrated and described, it is to be understood that further modifications and changes in the details of construction may be resorted to which will fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a journal box having an annular dust guard well adjacent an end thereof, said well adjacent its upper portion being provided with a pair of spaced parallel walls to thereby form an elongated opening, an axle projecting through said well, a dust guard within the well and in peripheral contact with said axle, of a closure element mounted in said elongated opening, said closure element comprising a long strip of resilient fibrous material, said strip being formed of two plies, and means for securing said plies together at points spaced from one another along the length of the strip, the elongated strip normally having a thickness greater than the distance between the side walls of the top opening of th well whereby when inserted in edgewise fashion so that its sides engage the side walls of the opening the strip will be compressed and its side faces forced into frictional engagement with the side wall faces of the opening whereby to retain itself within the top opening of the well, said closure strip adapted when inserted in the opening to engage the top of the dust guard to complete thereby the filling of the top opening of the well.

2. In combination with a journal box having an annular dust guard well adjacent an end thereof, said well adjacent its upper portion being provided with a pair of spaced parallel walls to thereby form an elongated opening, an axle projecting through said well, a dust guard within the well and in peripheral contact with said axle, of a closure element mounted in said elongated opening, said closure element comprising a long strip of resilient fibrous material, said strip being formed of two plies, and means for securing said plies together at points spaced from one another along the length of the strip normally having a thickness greater than the distance between the side walls of the top opening of the well whereby when inserted in edgewise fashion so that its sides engage the side walls of the opening, the strip will be compressed and its side faces forced into frictional engagement with the side wall faces of the opening whereby to retain itself within the top opening of the well,

' said closure strip adapted when inserted in the opening to engage the top of the dust guard to complete thereby the filling of the top opening of the well, said closure strip being formed from one wide strip of fibrous material, the fold being longitudinally of the length of the strip, said closure strip being inserted into the top opening of the well with its folded edge first and with this edge engaging with the top of the dust guard.

ERNEST ARMSTRONG.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

